What frequency of Annealing for best case life and consisitent accuracy?

[dibbs]

I have periodically annealed brass for a tactical competition rifle every 3-4 firings. Now I am starting to delve into LR/ELR shooting with a 7mm Remington Magnum, and soon a 300 Winchester Magnum. Based on your experience, what would your recommendation be for intervals between annealing brass for these cartridges. Thanks.

 

[jimbires]

I was annealing every other time , now I anneal every time . I'm not sure it's necessary , but that is how I'm doing it .

 

[ChrisInKY]

If you're doing it right, you cannot over-anneal your brass.

• The aiming point is at the neck/shoulder junction
• The aiming point is NOT the case neck
• The aiming point is NOT the shoulder/body junction
• Brass is annealed when it reaches a temperature of ~750°F (400°C)
• Use 650°F Tempilaq for this reading
• Paint a stripe of Tempilaq from the case mouth to half-an-inch below the shoulder body junction
• Test anneal a couple of pieces of identically sized brass from the same lot (it takes cold brass about 4 seconds to anneal)
• The Tempilaq stripe on your test brass should 'just' show the appropriate 650°F color change AT and BELOW the shoulder body junction
• In this way you can determine the 'target area' of your case has hit the required 750°F temperature
• All brass is not created equal ... always use Tempilaq
• Do not drop a 'just annealed' case into water ... quenching hardens ... and people are dumb
• Yes, I have heard 'smart' people say soft metals don't harden when quenched
• You cannot anneal brass too many times, but you can burn your brass ... and dumb people do this all the time
• If you burn a piece of brass crush it with a pair of pliers

 

[tim_w]

IMO if you are doing it properly every time is best and further I find that if I coat the inside of necks with dry lube it seems to ensure an even release from the surface friction. Its not so much the tension but the surface of the brass causing inconsistent release at that point.

 

[Gord0]

I anneal every other firing. I'm on my 7th reload with my Sig 300win mag brass.

 

[Gord0]

If you're doing it right, you cannot over-anneal your brass.

• The aiming point is at the neck/shoulder junction
• The aiming point is NOT the case neck
• The aiming point is NOT the shoulder/body junction
• Brass is annealed when it reaches a temperature of ~750°F (400°C)
• Use 650°F Tempilaq for this reading
• Paint a stripe of Tempilaq from the case mouth to half-an-inch below the shoulder body junction
• Test anneal a couple of pieces of identically sized brass from the same lot (it takes cold brass about 4 seconds to anneal)
• The Tempilaq stripe on your test brass should 'just' show the appropriate 650°F color change AT and BELOW the shoulder body junction
• In this way you can determine the 'target area' of your case has hit the required 750°F temperature
• All brass is not created equal ... always use Tempilaq
• Do not drop a 'just annealed' case into water ... quenching hardens ... and people are dumb
• Yes, I have heard 'smart' people say soft metals don't harden when quenched
• You cannot anneal brass too many times, but you can burn your brass ... and dumb people do this all the time
• If you burn a piece of brass crush it with a pair of pliers

Lots of good info here. I don't like templaq, just a personal preference. I will say that you are 100% wrong on brass hardening when it is quenched though. Brass only work hardens. It is different from most all metals in that way.

 

[Buckskinner]

You need to be careful about getting information on annealing from forums, there is so much misinformation that is will make your head spin.

Such as cold brass takes about 4 seconds to anneal. - Extremely misleading...Time would be dictated by temperature where hitting the brass and individual piece, not to mention differing calibers....

Such as quenching brass hardens it. Not true, working brass is the only way to harden it. Quenching stops the annealing process from migrating down the body. Although unless you over-anneal the neck the heat source is removed and migration is stopped. I can see it both way and do not quench, but fact is that quenching does not harden the brass. Quench away if you like or if you are making a knife...

Back to your question, annealing frequency would be dependent upon your rifle/reloading practices. If you are full sizing with standard rifle/standard dies, your 3-4 firings may be necessary. If you neck size and have a close neck/die "relationship", I've heard of 30+ firings between annealing (Mikecr)...

 

[ChrisInKY]

I don't like templaq, just a personal preference.

I don't really like it either, but it works. A mess to clean up after.

I will say that you are 100% wrong on brass hardening when it is quenched though.

Some of that was tongue-in-cheek ... smart guy.

 

[Buckskinner]

I guess I missed the tounge and cheek part of that...

 

[ChrisInKY]

I guess I missed the tounge and cheek part of that...

No doubt. People who obviously want to pick a fight with strangers on the Internet have a habit of intentionally overlooking the obvious.

The bullet points you saw in my original reply ... they are what I 'know'. I wrote them down more than a decade ago, but I've never shared them in public. You probably won't find anything like them anywhere else on the Internet either. Meantime, watch my posts. I've got another 30 sets of wisdom to drop where hand-loading for precision is concerned.

Cheers!!

 

[Buckskinner]

Can't wait...

 

[eklarsen]

No doubt. People who obviously want to pick a fight with strangers on the Internet have a habit of intentionally overlooking the obvious.

The bullet points you saw in my original reply ... they are what I 'know'. I wrote them down more than a decade ago, but I've never shared them in public. You probably won't find anything like them anywhere else on the Internet either. Meantime, watch my posts. I've got another 30 sets of wisdom to drop where hand-loading for precision is concerned.

Cheers!!

Finally, some good advice on handloading for precision coming to this forum, throwing out all I know and waiting for the pearls of wisdom to be provided.

 

[Geno1112]

I anneal every 3-4 firings also. A long time ago, someone said brass manufacturers do not quench after they anneal.

 

[Canhunter35]

I anneal every other time...and quench them in water. Lol, seems to work, I've shot my 257 wby brass 6 times. Accuracy and sd is as good as ever.